(Topic ID: 107222)

Thoughts on The Hobbit art and theme

By Aurich

9 years ago


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#95 9 years ago

The problem with the Hobbit playfield art isn't that it's Photo vs. cartoon...or even the colors. It's just...empty. It's just a whole lot of nothing. It looks boring. I know it's subjective, but I'm a big fan of the LOTR playfield art...I think it tells you a lot of information in a limited space, with good composition, "action lines" on the shots, main characters (I like how the fellowship inserts are above their respective characters near the middle of the PF), the armies rushing at the bottom by the flippers, and lots of other little tidbits...it's very organic and classy looking, IMO...one of my favorite "photoshopped" playfields for sure. The mountain, dragon and SKY SKY SKY with little heads off to the sides on Hobbit playfield just don't work. I think some more interesting and dynamic work could have been done on the playfield with Smaug & the various characters. Maybe the thought was that the LCD would be telling you the story with Smaug & the characters....but still, you want an attractive playfield to look at while you're playing. It's just weird that an 11 year old Stern game looks better...from the same licensor, no less - so I don't think it's quite fair to blame them in this instance. They approved it, but they didn't design it.

#106 9 years ago
Quoted from Pimp77:

Hmmm...same thing can be said about AFM as one example...empty! It's amazing that most 20 year old games look better than most of the recent games too. Just sayin'.

Disagree. AFM's artwork is clear, bold, cohesive, graphic, and is composed well. There are action lines on all the shots. Sure, the layout is "open" and "empty"...but, it's not a widebody...Hobbit's openness on a widebody coupled with the "empty" art gives it a negative visual double whammy.

#108 9 years ago
Quoted from Plungemaster:

I almost feel for all pin manufacturers when even AFM is seen as boring.
If you really think that, you should quit pinball and go base jumping or something like that.

Well here's the thing - if a machine accomplishes what it sets out to do -create a fun world under glass - it doesn't matter if it's "empty" or "full". A game can be super simple like AFM or IM...or ultra complex like TZ or JD ...as long as what's there is fun and the player enjoys it, there's no "right way" to design a game. Sometimes less is more. Sometimes more is more. If it works, it works! Finding that "magic" must be extremely difficult for designers...I'm not sure they even know the secret behind it...they try their best, and if it resonates, success!

That being said, I think current manufacturers are expected to provide "more" due to the price models of today.

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